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Direct Debit Overview

How Does Direct Debit Work?

The Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), the banking regulatory which oversee Direct Direct payments, state very clearly “that it must be the account holder who provides the authority to take payment from their account.”

To set up a Direct Debit arrangement, the customer must authorise the business or service provider to withdraw funds from their bank account. This is typically done through a Direct Debit Request Form (DDR) or an online authorisation process. Once the authority has been granted, the merchant can begin debiting funds from the customer’s account in accordance with the payment terms outlined in the DDR.

Obtaining a Direct Debit Authority

Businesses offering Direct Debit services must adhere to industry regulations and guidelines. This is generally referred to as BECS compliance. Businesses are required to obtain explicit consent from customers before initiating Direct Debit transactions and must provide clear information about payment schedules and amounts.

Below is a list of the requirements for a valid Direct Debit Authority:

  • You must be clear about the payment plan including the frequency of payment, amount of payment, any once-off amounts and all inclusive fees that may be incurred.

  • You must make a copy of the DDR Service Agreement available to the customer for them to read and accept before signing up:
    https://static.ezidebit.com.au/ServiceAgreement/AU/DDR_Service_Agreement.html

  • You must provide a method for the customer to accept the agreement e.g. a tick box with the wording ‘I agree to the Terms and Conditions of the Direct Debit Request and Service Agreement’.

  • You must provide the customer with a copy of the completed payment arrangement and service agreement within seven days of completing the DDR.

  • You must display the following text to the customer on the sign-up page:

I / We authorise Ezidebit Pty Ltd ACN 096 902 813 (User ID No 342190, 342191, 428198) to debit my/our account at the Financial Institution identified above through the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) in accordance with this Direct Debit Request.

Processing Times

As Direct Debit is not a real time payment method, Global Payments will batch up and submit transactions to the banking network to process periodically throughout the day. If your transaction occurs after the last batch job for the day, it will be included in the first batch on the next business day.

RegionBilling Runs
Australia12:30am AEST
6:30am AEST
3:00pm AEST